Store-service apparatus



O. W. SMITH.

STORE SERVICE APPARATUS.

(No Model.)

No. 330,629. Patented Nov. 17, 1885.

Iyzucani'rar;

R PKTERS: Plow-Lithographer, \valnlnglvn. D. C.

Urvrrnn STATES Farmer @rricn.

CHARLES WILLARD SMITH, OF WOBURN, MASSACHUSETTS.

STORE-SERVICE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 330,629, dated November17, 1885.

Application filed April 20, 1885.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES -WILLARD SMITH, of vVoburn, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Store- Service Apparatus, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention has for its object to provide an improved store-serviceapparatus of the class in which wire tracks are employed, on which runcars having suitable receptacles.

The invention consists in the improved apparatus which I will nowproceed to describe and claim.

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 represents a top view of a track and motor and a part of thecar embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 represents a section on line mm,Fig. 5, looking downwardly. Fig. 3 represents aseotion on line y y,Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents a sec tion on line .2 z,'Fig. 3. Fig. 5represents a side elevation The same letters of reference indicate thesame parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, a represents a wire track stretched between twosupports, 1) b, the former being near the salesmans station or counter,and the latter being in close proximity to a cashiers desk elevatedabove the counter, so that the track is inclined upwardly from thecounter to the desk. At the salesmans station is a rigid frame, 0, ofsuitable construction, suspended from the ceiling over the track by rodse e. Said frame supports two inclined guide-rods, f f, which areparallel with each other and with the track.

gg represent two slides adapted to travel easily on the guide-rods f f,and located under the track. h h are metal arms rigidly attached to theframe and projecting beyond the same, as shown. To the outer ends ofsaid arms are attached the ends of two springs, ii, one of which isengaged with or passes through the slide while the other is engaged withor passes through the slide 9, the tendency of the springs being to pullthe slides away from the lower end of the track. The springs may be ofany suitable material, such as rubber or spiral wire; or, if preferred,the springs may be elastic bows or strips of metal, instead ofextensible springs. The

Serial No. 162,799. (No model.)

two springs and their slides constitute two motors, each capable ofoperating independently, as hereinafter described. For convenience ofdescription, I will term the spring 6 and its slide 9 the primary motor,and the :pringt' and its slide 9 the secondary mo- It represents thecar-body, the wheels Z l of which are located over it, and are groovedto run upon the wire track.

To the slide 9 of the secondary motor are pivoted at m two levers, n 12,having longer hooked arms or jaws, which are connected and drawn towardeach other by a spring, 0, Fig. 4. The hooked arms or jaws of the leversnormally stand in position to grasp a lug or arm, 1), on the car, saidlug having beveled sides which open the jaws when the car runnin g downthe track nearly reaches the slides, the spring causing the jaws to"engage with said lug when it is sufficiently inserted between the jaws,as shown in Fig. 4. \Vhen the car is thus engaged with the jaws, adownward pull on a cord, 1', attached to the lower slide, g,and passingover a pulley, 8, draws both slides with the car toward the lowerextremity of the track, the slide g of the primary motor, which has noconnection with the slide being forced to move by the connection of thecar with the slide 9 through the jaws. The springs i; i of the twomotors are thus extended and put under increased tension. WVhen theslide 9 nearly reaches the lower end of the track, the shorter arms ofthe levers a a strike studs or guides an, attached .to the lowersupport, 12, or other fixed object, and are pressed inwardly by saidstuds. The hooked arms or jaws of the levers n n are thus forced apartand caused to release the car, whereupon the primary motor gives the caran impulse which sends it to the upper end of the track, where it isarrested by an automatic detent until the cashier is ready to release itand allow it to return to the counter. The cord 0" being released by theoperator, the springi restores the slide 9 to its normal position, sothat the hooked arms n a are ready to again engage the car. It will beseen that the provision of the two independent motors and the devicesfor automatically releasing the car and the primary motor from thesecondary motor, to which the pull-down cord is attached, enable the carto be quickly released ICO and impelled each time with the same degreeof force, so that nothing is left to the judgment of the operator as tothe degree'of force required, and there is no necessity for the quickrelease of the pull-down cord, as there would be if the secondary motorwere relied on to give the impulse. The forward end of the car isprovided with two outwardly-projecting springcatches, o '0, which passbetween and engage with two fingers, '0 v, on a plate, w, attached tothe upper support, I), when the car reaches the upper end of the track,and thus locks the car to the plate to. To the under side of the car areattached arms a a, which support a ring or band. d represents acylindrical cup or receptacle adapted to enter said ring, and providedwith lantern-catches e e, which engage with the ring and hold the cuptherein, the open upper end of the cup being covered bya boss projectingdownwardly from the car into the cup.

It will be seen that there is nothing uncertain in the operation of theapparatus, the force that moves the car upwardly to the desk beingdefinite and uniform in each case, while the downward inclination of thetrack from the desk makes the return of the car to the counter a matterof equal certainty. There is therefore no liability of failure of thecar to reach its destination.

The lower end of the track is preferably attached to the frame 0, andsaid frame is provided with pivoted sockets i, which receive thesupporting-rods c, said rods being connected to the sockets byset-screws j, so that the frame 0 can be raised or lowered to vary theinclination of the track. The upper support, I), has a yielding buffer,is, to prevent concussion when the upward movement of the car isarrested. The slide g has a buffer, Z,

of felt or other yielding material, against which the car strikes indescending the track, and the slide 9 has a similar buffer, m, toprevent concussion when it is returned to its place beside the slide 9by its spring 1'.

I claim- 1. In a store-service apparatus, the combination, with thewireway, of a primary and a secondary springmotor at one end of the way,(ach capable of independent operation, a carrier constructed to run uponthe way, devices, substantially as described, whereby a car inapproaching said motors is automatically engaged with the secondarymotor, a

pull-down cord extending from the secondary motor to the operatorsstation, and disengaging devices operated by a backward movement of themotors, whereby the car is released, the arrangement being such that asingle pull on said cord adapts the two motors for action and releasesthe primary motor and car, while the release of the cord enables thesecondary motor to return to posi tion to be again engaged with anapproaching car, as set forth.

2. In a store-service apparatus, the combination of the .wireway, acarrier constructed to run thereon, and having a lug or arm, asp, aprimary spring-motor arranged near one end of the way as a stop for acar approaching said end, a secondary motor located behind the primarymotor and having spring-jaws, asn n, which engage automatically with theprojection on the car, a pull-down cord attached to the secondary motor,and fixed studs, as u u, at the end of the track, which displace thejaws of the secondary motor when the motors and car are moved by thecord, and release the car and the primary motor, as set forth.

3. The combination of the inclined track, the frame having parallelguide-rods at the lower end of the track, the two springs aifixed attheir ends to fixed supports and engaged with ,independent slides onsaid guide-rods, each spring and its slide constituting amotor, thepivoted levers on the lower slide having jaws adapted to engageautomatically with a car on the track, the pull-down cord attached tothe lower slide, and devices whereby when the slides and car are pulledto the lower extremity of the track the car and the upper slide arereleased, as set forth.

4. The car composed of a body and suitable wheels above the same, formedto run upon a wire track, combined with the ring located below thecar-body and rigidly attached there- I to, and the cup havingspring-catches adapted to engage with said ring, and thus detachablyconnect the cup to the car, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses, this 17th day of April, 1885.

CHARLES WILLARD SMITH.

Witnesses:

GARVIN R. GAGE, EDWARD E. THOMPSON.

IOO

